Coalition split on Greece bailout

The Greek bailout crisis has appeared to cause some disagreement within the Luxembourg government, with Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna taking on a tough stance in Brussels while coalition partners are tweeting in support of Greece on social media.

30.06.2015

(CS/CBu/dv) The Greek bailout crisis has appeared to cause disagreement within the Luxembourg government, with Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna taking on a tough stance in Brussels while coalition partners are tweeting in support of Greece on social media.

Gramegna over the weekend had said that Greece had closed the door on further talks with its surprise referendum announcement, saying there had been a loss of trust between the country and the other euro members. The only way out would be for the Greek government to change its approach, he said.

These comments were made after the Eurogroup decided not to extend the bailout programme beyond June 30. Eurozone finance ministers later reconvened without their Greek colleague Yanis Varoufakis.

A few days earlier, at the extraordinary summit on Greece, Bettel has shown himself similarly unyielding, saying that a cut of restructuring of debt was not an option. The PM said that had a responsibility to the Luxembourg tax payer to fulfil.

Both Bettel and Gramegna are part of the DP.

On Twitter, however, LSAP Labour Minister Nicolas Schmit retweeted articles and editorials in solidarity with Greece. Articles posted come with headlines such as “Europe is destroying Greece's economy for no reason at all” (by Washington Post writer Matt O'Brien) or “The Greeks are not playing games; they are trying to stay alive” (by Columbia University professor Jeffrey D. Sachs).
Schmit himself tweeted:

Déi Gréng Infrastructure and Sustainable Development Minister François Bausch also retweeted a number of articles and posts critical of the Eurogroup and calling for efforts to be made allowing Greece to remain in the eurozone.

Bettel on Monday did not want to comment on the government position on Greece. In his role as Media and Communications Minister he was in New York from Sunday until Tuesday to meet with players from the ICT sector.

Finance Minister Gramegna on Wednesday meanwhile is set to talk about the Greek bailout crisis at the Luxembourg parliament.